Meet the New Teachers and Staff at Coronado High School

Coronado High School welcomed several new and newly assigned educators last week for the start of the 2013-14 school year. 

CHS Principal Jenny Moore was notably absent from the first day of class. She welcomed a baby two months premature while on vacation in Boston. District staff said she anticipates a return to San Diego in late August.  Moore is said to return to CHS before December.

In the meanwhile, Assistant Principal Shane Schmeichel and newly appointed Assistant Principal Steve Abbott will lead the administrative team, staff and students.

Meet the staff (bios provided by Coronado Unified School District): 

Steve Abbott (Assistant Principal – CHS) comes to us from Mt. Shasta High School at the other end of the state. Steve has filled many leadership roles at the high school level, including coaching, serving as the administrative designee, leading accreditation reviews and designing school wide curriculum. He has taught Spanish, Psychology and Mathematics and recently completed an MA in School Leadership from CSU Chico. Steve is passionate about reducing initiatives and policy to that which affects daily, classroom instruction and is anxious to support the Islander teaching staff. Steve’s parents live in Coronado and he has long ties to the San Diego area, including attending UCSD and working for over ten years at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Christine Adams (English – CHS) is an English teacher who has recently relocated from Chicago, where she taught for the last 5 years. She holds a bachelor's degree in education from Miami University (Ohio) and a master's degree in literature from Northwestern University. In her spare time, she enjoys both fiction and nonfiction writing and has an online column with Chicagonow.com. She enjoys yoga and hiking with her husband, Frank. Mostly, Christine is looking forward to helping a new crop of students find connections to great literature and grow confident in their writing.

Joshua Chao (English – CHS) is a “new” teacher at Coronado having spent the last year at CHS teaching English both as a fill-in substitute and a temporary contract teacher. He graduated Northwestern University with a major in English Literature and Fiction in 2010 and moved back to California where he received his teaching credential from the UC Irvine. Joshua is a sports enthusiast who enjoys watching and playing basketball, football and tennis. As an aspiring fiction writer he has a passion for literature, especially works from the Renaissance and Victorian period. He enjoys the Medieval and Gothic works and can’t get enough of fantasy novels. Currently his favorite books are the Lord of the Rings and The Song of Ice and Fire series. Other important details include having the same exact birthday as Mr. Hoang (his celebrity doppelganger) and having an (apparently) random obsession with cats.

Patrick Galligan (Digital Media and Filmmaking – CHS) is coming to Coronado High School from the Chicago area, where he has lived almost his entire life. Before teaching, he worked at some of Chicago's biggest radio stations and worked in TV during this time as well. He began his career in education as an English teacher in Kenosha, Wisconsin and from there he ran high school television & film programs in the Chicago suburbs for three years. Some of his students have produced award-winning work and have moved on to acting in commercials, producing professional documentaries and working professionally in media industries. Patrick spent the past two and a half years working as a corporate video producer, and has won some awards himself. In addition to his work in media and education, fitness is a huge part of his life. After losing 60 lbs. in a period of 8 months a few years ago, he decided to get certified as a personal trainer and he hopes the California climate and atmosphere proves conducive to getting him back in shape.

Lindsay Goulet (Physics – CHS) is a native San Diegan raised in the community of National City. She attended San Diego State University to earn her degree in social science with the intention of earning her teaching credential in the same field. However, after working under her high school physics teacher and tutoring students from her alma mater, Lindsay was convinced physics was the subject she wished to teach. She recently completed SDSU's teacher credential program for physics and will teach physics at Coronado High School this year.

Andrea Lin (Counselor – CHS/CMS) will be a school counselor at Coronado Middle School and Coronado High School. She has a Master of Science degree in Counseling from San Diego State University and a Pupil Personnel Services Credential. Andrea received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology at UC San Diego. She counseled K-12 students in San Marcos Unified, Oceanside Unified, and San Diego Unified School Districts.

Joe South (History – CHS) is a teaching veteran of 7 years who originally hails from the San Francisco Bay Area. He has lived in the Southern California area for 12 years. He spent 5 of those years teaching in scenic Lancaster, CA. While there he taught 10th grade world history and AP European history. He also coached JV and Varsity baseball. Three years ago he and his wife decided it was time to leave the earthly paradise of the Mojave Desert behind and move closer to family in San Diego. Since returning, Joe has taught social studies in Encinitas and in Temecula before coming to Coronado. Joe likes to stay busy in his free time. He spends a lot of time with his wife Melissa and two daughters, Mia and Mylee, in the abundant leisure activities that San Diego has to offer. His hobbies include, but are not limited to; surfing, playing guitar, playing ice hockey, reading, listening to music, mountain biking, camping and studying history. Joe is very excited for the 2013-14 school year, his first as a Coronado Islander. 

Also meet the new staff at:

• Coronado Middle School
• Silver Strand Elementary School
• Village Elementary School
• Crown Preschool
• And with district student services